Virtual Paintout 28: Medieval Castles in Napa Valley!

For the month of June the Virtual Paintout gang visited Napa Valley, California, USA. I fell in love with this gorgeous castle, called Castello di Amorosa.

This 12th century style medieval castle is a fully functioning winery! The building began in 1994, and has become world famous. Dario Sattui, the owner who fell in love with medieval castles while touring Europe as a young man in an old VW van, is the great grandson of Vittorio Sattui, an Italian immigrant who founded V.Sattui Winery in 1885 in San Francisco. 

The whole story is fascinating, and I loved reading it and touring the castle via Google street view.

Here is the original location (as always, you can

enlarge any pics by clicking on them):

I dinked around in Photoshop, playing with color ideas:

The line drawing on the birch wood panel:

First I painted the values underpainting. I wanted an old, aged effect:

Here is a crummy photo with glare, showing the blues being added. I used Ultramarine blue. In Medieval days it was a sign of wealth to use that blue, it being an expensive color to create from genuine Lapis Lazuli.

Some close ups:

And here is my finished castle, complete with actual images from inside and outside the castle. The gargoyles sit atop stone walls, guarding the entrance to the castle drawbridge. The iron dragon is outside, hanging from chains. The rest are painted images from inside, most on the walls of the Great Room.

"For the Love of Castles"

Castello di Amorosa

Napa Valley, CA  USA

8x10 acrylic on

birch wood panel

(Prints, cards and more available

at my Print Shop)

I hope you enjoyed visiting Castello di Amorosa.

Retta

Virtual Paintout 20: Timeless Italy!

Last day of the last month of the year! Time for a photo of my studio workspace. Yes... a wee bit messy. And I confess, this is a neat day, ha ha ha!

On to my painting for Decembers Virtual Paintout. For this last month of 2014, we virtually visited Rome, Italy. So full of beauty and history! 

A sense of Timelessness.  Words fail me. 

The site I chose was at the Baths of Caracalla, the famous ancient Roman Baths. Built in the early AD 200's, they were huge public baths. Here's my original location (can click on any pics to enlarge):

Something appealed to me about the ancient ruins, beautiful sky, and green grounds.

And those trees.  

They looked as if they had been around for ages. 

Their height, their shape. 

Old trees that could tell a story. 

And my imagination went wandering, and I saw Others present. 

From an even more distant past. 

Like Time overlaying Time. 

Energy from the Past still interwoven with Today. 

So I played with it. :-)

In progress on my easel:

And the finished painting:

"Timeless"

Baths of Caracalla, Rome, Italy

9 x 12 acrylic on

wrapped canvas

A couple of close-ups... 

first the Triceratops Mama and baby:

And the Brachiosaurus:

My thanks to artist Bill Guffey for leading the Virtual Paintout. He takes us to a new location every month, and spends untold hours posting all of our paintings in our Facebook gallery. You can visit Bill's own art website Here.  Thanks, Bill!

I haven't mentioned it in awhile, but the monthly Virtual Paintout is open to anyone of all skill levels and almost all mediums. It's a lot of fun! For more info, check out his blog Here. 

Thank you for visiting and Happy painting - and Happy New Year!

Retta

PS: for the purists amongst us...

The Brachiosaurus was from the Jurassic era, and was first discovered in Colorado, North America in 1903 (not Italy, ha ha).

The Triceratops, on the other hand, was from the late Cretaceous era, and many skeletons have been found in North America and Canada. Oh, and the flying Pteranodon hung out in about the same timeframe and places as the Triceratops. 

Obviously, my painting is a work of fractured fantasy! :-D

Virtual Paintout 14: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

This is my second year traveling the world with the Virtual Paintout gang, via Google Street View.  This painting will be my 14th outing. I love it!

Vevie has decided to stay home for awhile, so I'm "traveling" on my own. And this month we visited Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

As I virtually cruised around Cape Cod, this scene caught my eye. The swing in the yard, quiet and still, as though it was patiently waiting to fly again. It brought back fond memories for me. :-)

Here is the original location I chose (can click on any pics to enlarge):

For my little 8 x 8 canvas, I cropped it smaller:

And as usual, I played with color schemes in Photoshop, and here is my final idea:

Toned the canvas with pink:

Started with the sky, then roughed in the house with vine charcoal:

Worked in layers, putting in the background colors first, then building layers up over it:

The image continues around to the sides:

Some close-ups:

And here is my finished painting:

"Memories"

Cape Cod, MA

8 x 8 acrylic on

wrapped canvas

This painting of the swing hanging from the tree brought back memories and made me smile. I hope you enjoyed it, too. Did it stir any memories for you??

Happy painting,

Retta

Virtual Paintout 13: Vevie Goes to Venice!

As the year came to an end, for December the Virtual Paintout     gang went to a gorgeous and romantic place... Venice, Italy. Vevie had a blast riding a virtual gondola along the canals. 

Since I was sick ALL of December, I'm tickled I actually finished this painting, even though I'm late getting it posted here.

Here is the original location, looking into the restaurant Trattoria Sempione. I loved the glow of the chandelier, which actually showed up better in other photos, and the greenery and flowers. (click on any pics to enlarge)

I played in photoshop, and decided on this treatment (Vevie had a dinner date with a suave Italian Gondola Cat, and you can see her up above, peeking to see if he has arrived yet):

I didn't get too many wip photos (work in progress photos), but here are a few:

This is a close up of the some of the wrought iron, old bricks and flowers:

And that lovely chandelier:

We can't forget Vevie:

And the finished painting:

"Are You Here, My Love?"

Calla di San Marco,

Venice Italy

9 x 12 acrylic on

wrapped canvas

As always, anyone is welcome to join the Virtual Paintout gang. Each month Bill Guffey leads us somewhere new in the world, via Google Street View. All the details are HERE, so come, join us for 2014!  

Happy Painting,

Retta

Vevie (rhymes with Stevie)

Virtual Paintout 10: Vevie Goes to the Isle of Wight!

The where of who??!! 

This month the Virtual Paintout  gang took off for the Isle of Wight. Being a geographical ignoramus, I had to look closely at the map. You never know where in the world our leader, Bill Guffey  is going to take us next!

The Isle of Wight is the largest island of England, in the English Channel. It has a fascinating history, being mentioned as far back as the Roman Empire. At various time throughout history, everybody and his brother attacked it if they sailed down the English Channel. In more recent times, it was a favorite vacation spot for the "rich and famous", from the likes of Charles Dickens to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

And what a gorgeous island! Vevie did a lot of prowling (via Google Street View) before she settled on this old stone church and graveyard, in the town of Brading on the East end of the island. Having nine lives, she has a special affinity for graveyards.

To Vevie, graveyards are not morbid. Rather, they remind her of the gift of Time. A place of rest and reflection. That each day is to be cherished, and lived to the full. 

A favorite quote of mine comes from the 1994 movie "Star Trek: Generations". Captain Jean Luc Picard is talking to Wil Riker, his Number One officer:

"Someone once told me that time is a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey that reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we live it. After all, Number One, we're only mortal."

And now the "making of" photos. (can click on any pics to enlarge)

Here is my cropped version of the scene:

After playing around in Photoshop with various color schemes, I settled on this one. Though in the end, I toned down the orange:

I like to pick out my tubes of paint for my current color palette, and then put all the rest away. For this painting, I used a few more than usual. They are Interactive Acrylics by Chroma: Pthalo Turquoise, Chromium Green Oxide, Quinacridone Magenta, Permanent Alizarine, Brilliant Magenta, Vermillion, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Dioxazine Purple, Titanium White, and Paynes Gray. (whew!)

After giving the canvas a coat of gesso, I decided to again play with texture. So I took my palette knife and added some "rocky" foreground texture for the stone wall and some grasses, using white texture medium. Then drew in my design with a Derwent Inktense pencil, in Madder Brown, softening it with water:

Decided to add some values with Burnt Umber this time. I used to do very detailed grisaille underpaintings, and I guess I was missing that, so did a quicky version, only using browns instead of grays. Ha ha, so really it's not a grisaille, but rather a brunaille. ;-)

I started in with my dominant color, turquoise. I mean, ALL OVER. It was exhilarating!

Adding in the focal color for the tree, shades of plum, red, purple, etc.

All done! Vevie was added, the sky brightened, and the "spice" colors added (yellows, oranges and pinks):

Drying on the easel; the texture throws off a lot of reflections:

Some close up details:

"Time... Our Companion"

St Mary's Church, Brading

Isle of Wight, UK

9 x 12 acrylics

on wrapped canvas

Years ago, I wrote the following in my journal. 

I don't feel as though I've yet learned to live up to it... but I do try:

"I will live this day to it's fullest. 

Time is the coin of my life, 

and I choose to spend it wisely."

Happy painting,

Retta

Vevie (rhymes with Stevie)

 my Virtual Paintout Muse